Free
by shadowmange
Summary: One desolate world. Two desperate scientists. Three boys and three girls, trained to become the world's saviours. Heroes born for the sole purpose of bringing back the people's freedom, and paying for it… Because freedom always comes with a cost.
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone :D

This is the first chapter of my first story, and I'm pretty nervous about it to be honest...

Hope you like it though! ^.^

 **Disclaimer: The Powerpuff Girls do not belong to me**

Summary: One desolate world. Two desperate scientists. Three boys and three girls, trained to become the world's saviours. Heroes born for the sole purpose of bringing back the people's freedom, and paying for it… Because freedom always comes with a cost.

* * *

-0-0-0-

Free

 _"The secret to happiness is freedom… and the secret to freedom... is courage. –Thucydides_

-0-0-0-

 **April 4, 2016**  
 **2:17 am**

"Brick, come in! This is Blossom, there are troops invading the East wall, head over there and back the troops up. Do you copy?"

"Roger Bloss, on it now. How're you holding up?"

Grimacing, the red-haired girl rubbed the side of her cheek where she had barely dodged a bullet. A long red-line ran across her pale face which stung when she touched it, making her wince slightly as she crouched behind a stack of reinforced crates, gun clutched against her chest. She was really not looking forward to getting Bubbles' administrations later, no matter how gentle she was, those alcohol swabs were absolute torture. Yet, getting attacked by the cotton balls from hell were a much better outcome than…

Nope, she was _not_ going to go down that train of thought. Not today, not now.

"Fine, just got a cut on my face." She rolled her eyes when the predictable barrage of "Are you okay?" and such filled her ears. "No, I'm _fine_ Brick. Go on to the East wing, chop chop! And… over."

She ended the conversation just as grumbles started to escape the speaker, shoving the device into her back pocket. Just in time too, a few soldiers had snuck over to her area. She lifted up her trusty 'Freezer', a spectacular invention by her genius of a father. Load… aim… he was moving cautiously, as were his other two comrades. Aim… and… fire! Or rather… Freeze!

In quick succession, three squirts of water shot out of the nozzle, and as soon as it came into contact with the enemy, the water froze, immobilizing them effectively. She felt a smirk glance over her face as her victims started struggling frantically, to no avail. It was her favorite weapon, efficient and effective, basically her motto in life. Plus, it didn't kill anyone, just paralyzed them. She wasn't really keen on creating a bloodbath unlike her black-haired sister, she was more of a… behind the scenes kind of person.

To be honest, she had barely stepped out of her office to participate in combat… until tonight. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Taking out a few more stray troops, she whipped out her walkie-talkie again as soon as she deemed the coast clear.

"Bubbles and Boomer, Blossom speaking, head to basement two and activate the new tanks. How are BC and Butch holding up?"

It was her baby sister who answered, "On it Blossy! And not too sure about that… our troops keep getting pushed back."

"Then hurry. Boom… take care of my sister please."

"I don't need protec-!"

"Don't have to ask Bloss, over." She smiled to herself, she had no doubt the shy but brave blonde would do anything in his power to keep Bubbles from any harm. The enemy's troops just kept coming however… she hadn't expected an attack on their own base tonight… no one had. Their base was a pretty well-hidden one after all… but regardless she was glad that the forewarning from the scouts gave them precious few minutes to prepare for the surprise attack, plus they had the new tanks her father and Professor Jojo had put together. Hopefully luck was on their side… yet there was a nagging feeling in her chest she couldn't seem to get rid of…

She yelped as she dove hastily behind another convenient stack of crates to avoid a barrage of bullets. Focus damn it! She aimed and fired a few more spurts. She was running out… crap. That meant she had to switch to her pistols soon.

Looking up to the pitch black sky, she bit her lip nervously, searching the darkness for the back-up she had called for earlier. This was no normal ambush… it had obviously been planned and realizing this she had immediately called for help. There was no way their small base with only a couple of troops could counter such an attack, even with six 'super-teens'… namely herself Blossom, Brick, Bubbles, Buttercup, Boomer and Butch. Trained from an extraordinarily young age to … frankly… fight a war. As she said, the attack was staged and they were taken slightly by surprise, they could hold them back for a while, with her two most trusted captains leading the defensive charge she had no qualms about that… but winning? Not likely… and she considered herself to be quite an optimistic person.

And… she was out of instant freeze water. Damn it. She snatched her pistols from their holsters at her belt and continued her so called sniping, taking out enemies that somehow got past their defense lines. They were growing in numbers too… she frowned and shooting another two more soldiers, she contacted her little sister again.

"Bubbles, you need to hurry up with the tanks! Butch and Buttercup are struggling to hold the defense walls!"

"Blossy! We're trying but… they won't start!"

"What do you mean they won't start?!"

Her sister sounded panicked and on the edge of hysteria, "We've been trying to start the tanks for the past five minutes but… they're not working! It… it's stuck!"

She felt her breathing and heart rate speed up dramatically. No no no, not now Blossom. Stay calm. Deep breaths.

"Did you try the other tanks?"

"Yeah… all of them won't work!" She heard a muffled curse from Boomer in the background along with Bubbles' panting, banging on the hard shells of the brand-new tanks in a last ditch effort to get them moving.

She shot another six more soldiers, even more were coming… rapidly. "But we just tested them last week! That can't be-Ow!"

Letting out a sharp gasp, she bit back a curse when she wasn't quick enough to duck behind the crates, a bullet now nestled deep in her left shoulder.

"Blossy! Are you okay?!"

"Fine," she grit out, ripping off a part of her sleeve to use as a makeshift bandage. The bullet was… rather deep, and it hurt. A lot. Damn it! She heard Boomer's voice, just as frantic but with a hint of anger, come from the speaker.

"Bloss! The engine of the tanks… they're completely wrecked! All of them! They've been sabotaged!"

The news sank in like a piercing arrow, threatening to release tears of panic. No! Blossom don't panic now! Your team needs you! Think!

"Blossy? W-what do we do now?"

"Boomer, Bubbles. Head to the West wing now. Offer as much help as you can. The only thing we can do is wait for back-up."

A gulp and poorly hidden whimper sounded before in a quiet voice they answered.

"Roger Blossom."

"Over," as soon as they went offline she finally let out the groan she had been holding in. It hurt so bad… but she had to hang in there… surely back-up shouldn't be too far-

Her sharp ears picked up the noisy whirring sounds in the distance, and upon turning her legs threatened to buckle in relief as helicopters came into view. Finally! They were here! Tears sprung unbidden to her eyes as the five air crafts flew over the more-or-less destroyed base, five was… rather little but surely there were more coming and… what were they doing?

The helicopters didn't seem to be… helping them push back the enemy lines, they seemed to be… circling around the field… as if they were… searching. She squinted up at the symbol painted on the sleek aircraft. It definitely belonged to the Anti-Force, the golden crest with the letter 'A' in the middle proved that… Hey, wait a minute.

Surely back-up teams didn't have helicopters of all things, she had organized a few herself. They had troops, or jet planes or something… and why was that one landing right next to-

She watched flabbergasted as Anti-Force soldiers jumped out of the helicopter, some shooting and covering the others… who were coming towards her.

What in the world were they doing?!

"Excuse me, the defense lines are up ahead, you should be- Hey! Let go!"

She struggled against their grip as she was man-handled rather roughly towards the helicopter.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Sorry Miss, Mojo's orders."

They ignored her protests and continued pulling her into the aircraft just as it started to lift off once more. Her shoulder was on fire as she was thrown into the seat, still she tried to push the soldier off her.

"My sisters- my team! They're still down there! I need to help them!"

"We'll be collecting them shortly Miss, now please sit down."

"C-collect? W-what?"They were flying over the defense lines now… except the lines were… broken. It was chaos, numerous soldiers lay on the bloodied ground, and most of them were on her side. She tried to look for her military captains, praying they won't be among those lying on the ground, but… they were nowhere in sight. Where were they?!

Her eyes scanned the battlefield frantically before a flash of onyx black caught her eye. She saw her raven-haired sister in the thick of the battle, ferociously taking down numerous enemies with nothing but a knife. She had probably lost her gun while fighting but still she was a tough one to take down, Blossom felt a proud smile grace her features as Buttercup rapidly spun around and delivered a sharp right-hook to a soldier almost twice her height. Yet, they were closing in on her. Blossom felt the blood drain from her face when she saw her sister somehow pinned down and being dragged away. She was kicking, yelling, as she tried to struggle out of her captor's hold… but even the 'Shadow' couldn't slip out of the painfully tight grip she was in.

She started to scream for her sister, disregarding the soldiers on the helicopter pulling her back. They had to do something! Anything! Her sister was… was…

But they flew right past them, oblivious to her screams for them to stop. She was pleading, begging even. She needed to get to her sister! They… were supposed to be back-up… to help them! She didn't need rescuing! Her sister did!

Just as she was about to start another bout of screeching, her eyes caught a red dot among the chaos down on the ground. Like a beacon, Brick's hair waved in the wind as he blasted soldiers left and right with his flame gun. She looked on in horror, helpless to do anything but watch as an enemy soldier hit him on the head and he crumpled lifelessly to the ground, like Buttercup they started to drag him away into a van while the troops finally broke their last line of defense.

Bubbles and Boomer… were nowhere in sight… and so was Butch. And Brick… he… no.

No. No. No. No. NO!

"LET ME GO TO HIM! BRICK! BRICK!"

They only continued to pull her back to prevent her from falling out of the cockpit.

"NO! BRICK! BUTTERCUP!"

They ascended up into the night sky, higher and higher, away from the carnage… and him.

"No…" she whispered, she felt something wet trail down her cheek, and more came as she continued to scream. Her throat was raw but she couldn't stop. She just kept screaming his name, her sisters' names… and just… screaming.

She felt something prick her arm and she fell silent, but her lips continued to move wordlessly even as her eyes closed.

Brick…

"We got one of them sir, the red-haired girl."

 _"We got the green boy, the others… cannot be salvaged. Abort mission immediately." "MY BROTHERS ARE STILL DOWN THERE YOU BASTARD! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" "Quiet boy! I make the orders here not you! Put him to bed boys!" "I DON'T CARE YOU- HEY LET GO! WHAT THE-!"_

She heard the radio shut off abruptly. They were… leaving. Her sisters… Boomer… Brick. They… couldn't be…salvaged. Only she and Butch…

They were the only ones rescued.

 _"Blossom!"_

Boomer and Bubbles were missing.

 _"Blossom! Open the door!"_

Buttercup was captured.

And so was Brick.

Brick…

 _"Blossom!"_

This… this was no back-up team.

 _"Blossom! Open up! You're late!"_

It was…

 **"BLOSSOM!"**

-0-0-0-

 **October 19, 2016**  
 **8:23 am**

She jolted out of bed, breathing heavily and hands clammy. Her night gown was completely soaked, her hair a bird's nest. Rubbing her hand across her face, she squinted at her alarm clock.

Meeting! Crap!

She leaped out of her sofa bed and attempting to smooth down her messy hair, she jogged over to the door leading into her office slash bedroom.

She was met with big brown eyes and an eyebrow rose as the young man took in her appearance. "You're not usually one for tardiness Bloss. Did you stay up all night or something?"

She felt her cheeks warm slightly. "Well…um… you see there was this new report on-"

The brunette cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Nah, it's cool. I managed to convince Dexter to postpone the meeting till about nine, so go and get ready. No need to thank me, I know I'm the best lieutenant you could ever have." He winked.

She rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. "Thanks Mike." He smirked before sauntering off, muttering something about meetings that were way too early in the morning.

"She looked back at her desk, cluttered with official reports and… unofficial ones. She had finished going through all that was required of her, but her own business… had yet to be completed.

A blurred photograph depicting what looked like a bar was lying on her desk. She had gotten it from one of the scouts, a new friend she met when she first arrived to this base. Robin was a part of her… 'secret mission' in a sense, in fact she had been one of the first to volunteer when she was recruiting. The photograph wasn't very useful to be honest, since Robin had gotten it from another scout who had gotten it from his father… and so on. Therefore there was no way she could identify when or where it had been taken.

The bar was run-down but packed, she was surprised such a place existed even in these times. Guess life still carried on even with an on-going war. But what caught her attention, and presumably Robin's attention, was the tall man in the top right-hand corner of the photograph. He wore a black sweater and had a tuft of messy dirty blonde hair. He was also extraordinarily tall.

And Boomer Jojo was nothing if not tall.

Sure it could have been anyone who was blonde and had a great growth spurt… but one could hope.

It was the only thing that kept her going at times.

Her mind wandered back to her dream and other darker thoughts. Her dream hadn't been a dream… not really… more of a… recollection of events. And that made it all the more painful. She quickly shook her mind from such thoughts. First things first, a shower. She was sweaty all over.

Looking at her reflection, she briefly wondered how Mike hadn't started outright laughing upon her appearance.

Her way too long auburn hair hung in knotted clumps, her night gown was wrinkled, and she had dark circles under her eyes. She grimaced, she looked like something out of a horror movie.

A nice hot shower would do the trick.

Except that the water was icy cold. It was war after all, and it was turning to winter pretty soon.

Gritting her teeth as she let the freezing water flow over her skin, she reached up for her shampoo. She didn't like this brand though… but it was the only body product company that survived all these hard years. She preferred _Love_ , especially the strawberry scented ones, but they went out of business two years ago.

Brick could deny it all he wanted, but he used to steal her shampoo for his hair too.

She blinked, before shutting her eyes quickly and started furiously scrubbing at her scalp. She hated thinking about Brick, because every time something as stupid as shampoo brought up memories of him, they would just keep coming.

His mischievous smile and the way he would fiddle with the bill of his hideous red cap whenever he was struck by an idea. His calloused hands rubbing her shoulders and her neck in all the right places every time she pulled all-nighters. Their talks late at night on the top of the east tower, refusing to look at the crumbling cliffs hiding their base… but instead staring into each other's eyes, his oddly compassionate crimson gaze roaming over her face, resting on her lips as they grew closer… and closer…

Their first kiss.

Her eyes shot open and her palm reached out for the slippery wall to steady herself. Her breathing came in short pained gasps and she could feel hot tears running down her cheeks in contrast to the cold water.

She shut off the tap, shakily stepping out of the shower and burying her face in a towel. She couldn't afford to keep having panic attacks like this, it would affect her performance and she couldn't let that happen. People's lives were at stake here… but…

She missed him. She missed them all.

It'd been months… she thought she could forget about them, but perhaps she overestimated herself. The clutter of blurred photographs and reports on enemy bases that could have kept prisoners attested to the fact that… she was nowhere near moving on. Some irrational part of her refused to give up… it drove her mad but… it was her only fuel that ensured she got up at six every single morning and scrape through the exhausting day.

Yet sometimes she wondered… if they ever gave up on her.

She didn't blame them if they did.

-0-0-0-

"But it's a perfect opportunity!"

"It's too risky, my son. We don't have any spare resources for an ambush on such a scale, if we did we might do so, but we don't have any spare resources. Therefore we cannot-"

" _They_ could be in ther-"

Blossom tugged at the sleeve of the young man's shirt, his dark green eyes immediately narrowing on her, but upon seeing her pleading expression gave in with a sigh and sunk back down in his seat reluctantly. She couldn't help but exhale the breath she had been holding.

"I expect everything that has been discussed this morning to be carried out accordingly, if not you will face consequences and I am sure none of you will want to face such consequences, so you have to carry out your task according to…"

She could still hear Butch seething under his breath above the droning voice, but he remained seated as he glared down at the grey table. A clearing of the throat stopped Mojo from continuing his speech, and he reluctantly adhered to the request.

"With that, meeting adjourned."

The scraping of chairs on the concrete floor flooded her ears as Professor Jojo, now General of the army, took his leave, before the rest of the group left as well. Butch was still brooding in his chair, and Blossom felt it was her responsibility to check up on her team member.

"Butch…" He looked up upon hearing her soft voice echo in the somewhat cramped meeting room, before his entire posture relaxed and tired lines spread across his weather-beaten face.

"I'm sorry Bloss… but sometimes I can't help it. I just want to punch that smug monkey face right off his-" He cut-off abruptly mid rant and buried his face in his palms, cueing Blossom to sit in the chair next to him and place a gentle hand on his broad shoulder.

""I know it's hard Butch… trust me I do. But we have to be patient-"

"I don't see why Blossom! You of all people should know that! Why are we waiting around, skirting along the edges and playing safe? Bubs and Boom could be out there, and Butters and Brick… who knows what those imbeciles are doing to them right this minute?! They could be-" He stopped himself a second time the moment he looked at her and his furious expression immediately softened to one of sadness and pity as he shifted closer to her side.

"Shit I'm sorry Bloss… I didn't mean to make you cry… I- I just… you know me. I'm that big idiot who always opens his big fat mouth before processing anything… Please don't cry Blossom, Brick would kill me then revive me just to kill me all over again if he knew I made his girl cry."

She blinked as she lifted a hand to touch her cheek. Indeed she felt something wet and warm on her fingers, funny how she never even noticed it. Maybe she was already used to it.

Smiling, she answered, "I'm fine, really, it wasn't your fault… just the dust in the air…"

He raised an inky eyebrow as she felt her cheeks heat up. Dust? Really Blossom.

"Bloss. You sound exactly like Butters sometimes, you know that?"

She sighed, "Yes, I'm fully aware of that Butch." He merely replied with a watery chuckle.

They stayed in silence for a while, only the soft whirring from the fan and Butch's booted foot tapping on the ground filled the quiet room. She kept her eyes on her lap, where her fingers were twirling a pink ball-point pen, engraved with her name. She struggled to push away the memories of Brick gifting her with the simple present, on top of that same tower, wishing her a happy valentines' day. She remembered flying into his chest, the stress from that day leaving the moment she was enveloped in his arms, believing she was safe as long as she stayed there.

She jumped slightly when she felt a light tap on her arm, realizing that Butch was staring at her and asking if she was alright.

"S-sorry Butch, I was thinking about something. What was it you said?"

He shrugged off the apology with a smile before repeating his question, "I was just wondering if you found out anything about… them. I know I didn't, Mojo didn't let us go anywhere beyond a twenty kilometer radius from here," he ended his sentence with a slight growl.

She shook her head dejectedly, "Nothing much on my end either, just a picture from Robin with a really tall blonde guy in it."

He perked up at that statement however, green eyes glinting with a remnant of that excitement which Buttercup had described to her once, when her tough little sister had transformed into a love-sick little girl swooning over her crush.

"Is it Boom?"

"I can't be sure, there was no date or location on the picture, plus it was really blur, just a flash of gold in the top corner."

His excitement faltered slightly, "Well, it's a start I guess. At least we got something." She smiled lightly at his optimism, wishing she had the same vigor and hope he had.

"You're not going to give up on them, ever, right?" He blinked at her, seeming slightly caught off-guard by her sudden question, she was surprised too. Where had that even come from?

Eventually he shook his head firmly, "No way Bloss. My brothers, Bubs and Butters mean the world to me. I'll never give up looking for them, the day I do is when Mojo stops talking in circles and decides to shave his beard off."

She chuckled, "He's your dad… and your General. Show a little respect."

He shrugged and rolled his eyes, muttering about non-stop talking dads and that they should get some brunch. Leading the way out the door, he gestured with his head to join him, and she nodded, gathering up her notes and files before flicking the light switch.

The picture with could-be-Boomer stared back up at her, tempting her to delve into it and solve it's mystery, thoughts of hope tickling the edges of her mind.

She wasn't going to give up on them either.

And she was going to bring them home.

-0-0-0-

"Thank you, have a nice day!"

The customer barely acknowledged him however, and as soon as he walked out the door, his bright grin morphed into a scowl.

"Seriously, Bu- Alice. I don't see why we have to be so nice to everyone when they don't even give a shit about us."

Alice merely laughed as she wiped the last of the dishes, they were finally closing up the shop, thank goodness.

"Come on Ethan, it doesn't hurt to spread a little joy."

She continued humming to herself, brown braids swinging as she danced around the small kitchen, keeping the plates in all their respective cupboards. How she could still be so… happy… never ceased to amaze him, even after all that had happened to them, she still found joy in the smallest of things.

Even when washing the dishes, she blew the little soap suds such that little bubbles surrounded them until they landed on the floor and disappeared.

Just like how they disappeared.

He shook off his melancholy thoughts and settled for watching her. Her laughter sounded the same, like how it did before, but if he looked closely, her baby blue eyes… were different. They were older, like they had seen things no teenager should have to see. Heck they were only eighteen, and here they were working their butts off in a run-down café.

"Ethan? What are you looking at?"

He looked up at her, just as her hand reached up to tuck a small blonde strand that had escaped back into her wig. "There's no one here anymore…Bubbles."

She sighed and decided to pull the whole mop of curly brown hair away, revealing golden locks that tumbled down to her shoulders. She was no longer Alice, in her place was the angel he came to love.

He pulled his own brown wig off, before combing a hand through his dirty blonde hair.

"We have to go out later, you know that right?"

He nodded, "Yeah but… sometimes I just want a break from being Alice and Ethan. I want to be Bubbles and Boomer again."

Bubbles hummed to herself, finishing up the last of the clean-up and picking up her backpack. "Ready to go?"

He picked up his backpack as well and giving the café a last glance, he followed her out the door, both pulling their wigs over their heads.

As they stepped out into the cold autumn wind, he was no longer Boomer Jojo.

For he and Bubbles Utonium were dead.

In their place stood Ethan and Alice Smith.

And Ethan Smith would stay.

While Boomer faded away.

-0-0-0-

* * *

Well, that's that :) I'm really excited to continue this story, but I'm sorry to say updates will be slow (you have been warned)

Do give any feedback so I can continue to improve my writing too :D

Toodles ;)


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: The Powerpuff Girls do not belong to me**

* * *

 **February 21, 2005**

 **2:50 pm**

 _The city of Townsville! A beautiful city with its towering skyscrapers and busy streets. The city's residents strolled along the sidewalks, going about their business with cheerful smiles. Everything was just perfect, from the birds trilling tuneful songs to anyone willing to listen, to the leafy green trees lining the sidewalks._

 _A sudden tremor from the heart of the metropolis shook the city, and the peace was broken by three bright lights crashing straight into one of the tallest skyscrapers, wracking havoc everywhere they went. It was the Rowdyruff boys! And they were destroying the city! They were knocking down the skyscrapers and stomping on all the poor animals!_

" _Stop right there boys!" a shrilling command boomed, echoing throughout the city as three pastel lights emerged from the clouds. It was the Powerpuff girls and they were here to save the day!_

" _You need to stop destroying our city!"_

" _Yeah! We love our city!"_

" _Now get outta here before we punch your face!"_

 _The boys merely grinned mischievously, hands on their hips and chest puffed out. "You can't tell us what to do! We're the Rowdyruff boys!"_

 _Laughing, the three boys resumed their 'fun', crashing into buildings and knocking down trees and people._

" _That's it! Get them girls!"_

 _The Powerpuff girls shot off, chasing after their own counterparts, but they were too fast. They ran around the city, hooting with rambunctious laughter as the girls struggled to catch up with them. Bubbles reached out to grab one of them by the hood but he darted away easily and dived through a couple more buildings, chuckling and sticking out his tongue at her as he went._

" _We can't catch them Blossom!"_

" _Yeah and they won't listen to us!"_

 _Surveying the worsening state of their beloved city, the commander and leader gathered her team and sighed._

" _I don't know how to beat them… but I do know someone who can help."_

 _._

 _._

 _._

"Auntie Sara!"

The red-haired beauty stopped in her tracks, turning around to see three seven-year-old girls running at full speed towards her. The black-haired girl reached her first, a scowl painted across her childish features. The most athletic of the three stood in front of her, arms crossed tightly on her chest and looking down at the floor, mumbling something under her breath.

"What did you say dear? I didn't quite catch it," she bent down slowly, putting the heavy binders to the side on the floor. Something told her this was going to take a while.

"Auntie Sara!" Another girlish voice filled the empty corridor, a red-head followed closely by a blonde caught up quickly, both gasping for breath, but the older girl spoke up immediately.

"Auntie the boys destroyed our city again!"

"And-and they're stepping on all the animals too!" The golden-haired girl cried out between whimpers.

"Can you punish them Auntie?" The girl beside her added her own two cents, still fuming.

She sighed, though a soft smile worked its way across her lips. "I've told you before girls, you need to be able to stand up for yourself."

"But we've tried! They won't listen!"

She sighed again, those three little Jojos were endearing, but then again, at times they were still…

Boys…

That gave her an idea.

"Well girls, I think you've just been attacking the problem from the wrong angle."

"Really?"

"Listen, what do little boys fear more than anything in the world?"

"BUGS!" The little blonde threw her hands up in the air for effect, while her sisters gave her sceptical glances.

"No Bubbles… that's what you're afraid of."

"Oh yeah."

She cleared her throat gently, getting their attention once more. "Girls, you have what boys fear most, instead of fighting… try being nice."

"Huh?!"

She prayed that John never found out about this.

"You know… _nice_."

.

.

.

"THAT WAS GROSS!"

"EW-EW-EW-EW-EW!"

"LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!"

Sara Bellum could barely stifle her laughter as the three Jojos, though they insisted on being called the mighty 'Rowdyruff boys', ran out of the girls' playroom, tails between their legs and faces bright red, leaving the 'city' made up of building blocks and stuffed animals in peace.

"I can't believe it worked Auntie!"

"I-I kinda liked kissing…"

"Yeah!"

Blossom and Bubbles burst into a fit of giggles as they watched the boys scramble out of the room, and Sara couldn't help but laugh along with them too as she stepped into the pink-walled room, a bright contrast from the dull corridors from where she had been watching the scene play out.

"How about you Buttercup?"

The tom-boy merely made a face and proceeded to try and get rid of the taste on her lips, which made her sisters start to giggle again.

Sara seated herself on a small bean bag, watching quietly as the girls began to rebuild their colourful, blocky city. They named it after the dump they now all lived in, the world they were born into. Townsville… the name brought back memories of a time when peace reigned, before the tyrant came… whom she and everyone here referred to only as…

Him.

She and John, and at times Mojo when he was in a less sour mood, would sit in this room or the boys' playroom, and they would tell the six children of a beautiful Townsville, one that they should have grown up in. They would listen with wide-eyed wonder, imagining a peaceful world where guns and violence were not the norm. They imagined that the barren lands were filled with wispy green grass, the constantly blood-coloured sky coloured a crystal blue, and chocolate-fudge ice cream.

Yes, chocolate-fudge ice cream.

They all had a small taste of it before 'Bob and Jenny' closed down altogether, and they have been longing to eat it again.

The meagre stories from those who had lived in the peaceful times, filled with the most vivid descriptions they could come up with, were the building blocks of the miniature city in front of her. The girls loved to recreate the home their father loved so much, and they would pretend that they were superheroes, saving the city from whatever monster their young minds came up with. As for the boys, she had caught glimpses of them doing the same in their own playroom at times, but with more fighting of course. Sometimes the whole group would play together and team up to save 'Little Townsville', dreaming of heroic antics and glory.

That was all they saw, they saw themselves as superheroes. When they grew up, they wanted to save the real Townsville from the big bad monster. After all, they are meant to be trained, meant to give up their childhood, in order to be…

Heroes. The worlds' saviours. The hope of salvation they had all been sitting around and waiting for all these years.

The products of Project X.

The Powerpuff girls and the Rowdyruff boys.

"Girls?"

The trio looked up from their play-pretend to see their father poking his head into the room.

"Hi Dad!"

They jumped up, careful not to hit any blocks down, and ran towards the tall professor, hugging his legs and greeting him with joyful enthusiasm.

She shot him a small smile which he returned, though his was more tired, but a genuine smile nonetheless.

"Hello my perfect little girls, how are you doing today?" They giggled and started chattering all at once, about what they ate, what they drew, what they played today.

Sara peeked behind John's shoulder, to see Mojo talking to his three sons (who all seemed bored by their father's continuous ramblings), all dressed in their training uniforms. She blinked, she hadn't realised that it was time for their training session, having been so deep in her thoughts.

"But Daaaaaad"

"We're not done rebuilding Little Townsville!"

The boys and Mojo were having a similar conversation.

"We were half-way through the Pillow Fight Finals Dad! The _Finals_!"

"Yeah! And I was gonna win!"

"No you weren't!"

"I was! You were on the ground!"

"I could have gotten up!"

"There was only three seconds left, you wouldn't have made it."

"But-"

"Silence boys! You are now going to the training room, because it is time for your training and you need to improve your skills, so that you can save the world from-"

"I think they get it Mojo," John interrupted his best friend smoothly, before leading the six reluctant children to the training room, smiling softly as Mojo grinned sheepishly, having been caught rambling again.

They were dragging their feet, Sara noticed, heads hung down as they grumbled to one another, no longer enemies now that they were in the same boat. Blossom and Brick to Mojo's study to study strategy and hacking. Bubbles and Boomer to the map room to learn the quickest routes around the perimeters of the base. Buttercup and Butch to the gym to work on their fighting and stamina.

She watched as their fathers sternly ushered them towards their respective locations, but with the same regretful look in their eyes. She watched as the children she came to love grow into hardened warriors, mischievous grins and high-pitched giggles fading day by day as the grind and rigour of the army base got to them. She watched as discarded dolls and toy cars collected dust as they sat quietly in the corner of the room.

She watched… and she could only watch.

Sara Bellum, godmother of the Powerpuff girls and the Rowdyruff boys, sat in the playroom and wept for the world's future saviours.

-0-0-0-

 **October 30, 2016**

 **7:28 pm**

The next customer came in wearing a faded brown cloak and a beige coloured hat, his walking stick in hand as he strode into their café with his wet shoes, not even bothering to dry them on the shoe mat _right in front of him mind you_ , choosing instead to leave mud and slush all over the floor. Boomer bit the inside of his cheek as he heard the quiet groan from the kitchen, successfully maintaining a straight face with a small welcoming smile as he attended to 'Mr. Extremely-inconsiderate-poopy-man'.

"One espresso."

Blunt and to the point, making his voice deep and grouchy so he sounded like an important person. As if that would work around here. Nope, no discount for you sir, even if you were the president's son or whatever.

He took his cup with a sniff and marched stiffly to his seat in the corner of the café with his sleek silver laptop (huh… didn't know they still sold those) wet footprints trailing him all the way. Another disdainful snort from behind made him double-over slightly to hide his sniggers.

"Did you miss Mr. Extremely-inconsiderate-poopy-man?" The joy and the laughter turned to stare daggers at him, the handle of the frying pan bending slightly. Boomer shut his mouth promptly, trying to control the twitch in his left cheek. After all, barely escaping from a hellish losing battle and walking for five days straight, injured and without food and water, really helps you understand what a wonderful thing being alive was, and he wasn't going to throw all of that away now thank you very much.

She was still glaring at him. Crap, okay Boomer think of something quick.

"I'll clean the floor for you today!" he blurted out. She still looked like she was going to commit murder with the frying pan. "…and I'll clean it tomorrow too." That seemed to appease her and she released her tight grip on the slightly crooked handle. She sighed, her gaze following the watery footprints decorating the usually pristine old tiles.

Something was on her mind.

"Hey Bubs, you okay?"

She shot a sharp, slightly frightened glance at him.

"Don't call me-"

He rolled his eyes, stopping her in mid-sentence, "It's only him, plus he's too busy acting all high and mighty, pretending to be working on some important report. He's playing Pac-Boy."

She blinked, turning slowly to peek at the corner of the shop. Poopy-man's face was pulled tight with a serious frown, his fingers jabbing the keyboard. In the reflection of the window behind him displayed the iconic yellow character eating up dots.

Bubbles giggled, before facing him again, _another_ sigh escaping her lips. "It's nothing, really, I was just thinking."

He raised a questionable eye brow, opening his mouth to interrogate her further when he heard the tell-tale squeak of the door and the stinging gust of wind that swept in. She hurriedly slipped back into the kitchen while he grimaced at the missed opportunity.

This time, it was a middle-aged woman with three young children, all wrapped up in worn patched-up cloths and shivering with cold. At least _they_ bothered to wipe their dirty boots on the shoe mat.

"How may I help you?"

The woman looked down at the small menu before them, eyes widening slightly as she scanned their prices. Their food wasn't very expensive compared to the other cafés on this street, upon Bubbles' insistence that those were overpriced. However they were starting to struggle in paying their rent, the prices had risen…again.

"I-I'll just get… two cups of hot water? Will… will it cost?" She looked up at him hopefully with exhausted grey eyes and Boomer gulped. Her children were of no help either, staring up at him with puppy-eyes that even rivalled Bubbles' when she was younger. But… he had to be firm, they had to pay their bills soon… as much as he wanted to help, they simply couldn't afford it.

"Sorry, we-"

"Oh my goodness! You three must be so cold! Have a seat, I'll make you three some hot chocolate, it's on the house!" She smiled warmly at them as she raced out of the kitchen, all traces of her melancholy mood from earlier vanished. The mother smiled gratefully back at her, bowing and thanking her profusely as she ushered them to a table. Of course Bubbles wouldn't hesitate to help those in need. She was… well… Bubbles.

As she jogged back to the counter, he reached out and gently caught her by the elbow. "You do know we're behind on our bills right?"

Her shoulders fell slightly but her crystal blue eyes held the same spark of determination and compassion. "They need this, Ethan."

He sighed as well, "I know but-"

She shushed him quickly with a finger to his lips as she led him to the kitchen, where she started to mix the chocolatey powder and a little milk.

"I'm very well aware of our financial situation… Boom, but I'll rather go hungry for just a little while longer… for them. They really need something to eat and they're so cold… and the children are so young and-"

She fell silent this time as he put his finger on her lips. "Shhh it's ok Bubs… I get it. You don't have to explain yourself."

Bubbles smiled slightly, but she still bit her bottom lip nervously as she stirred the hot drink. "Yeah, I know… but I feel that… we could be doing something more… to help the people. We are supposed to be heroes right? To save the world?"

"Bubbles-"

"I-I mean, we do give free food sometimes… and we let people stay a little while in the café just to get out of the cold but…we could- no- _should_ do more. We trained our entire lives… to run a café and give out free food? Boomer we could-"

"Bubs-"

A sudden commotion from outside startled them both. Boomer gave Bubbles a glance, trying to tell her to stay in the kitchen while he went to check it out. Of course she shook her head and brushed past him, much to his frustration. There was a yelp of pain followed by a groan, and then the sound of children crying filled his ears.

Oh shit.

"What are you doing?! Stop it! Stop it now! You're hurting her!"

The grey-eyed woman was lying on the ground, her frail hands clutching her stomach, and her children surrounded her, crying and cowering under the cold harsh gaze of the soldier… who was now sneering at Bubbles.

"This ain't your business. This bitch," another harsh kick with his leather boot landed on the poor woman who could only cry out in pain, "thought she could get away with stealing my food. So what if you're hungry and starving and your children are gonna die!" Spittle sprayed onto the four huddled figures on the floor, mean eyes glaring at them as if the poor little woman had killed his entire family and not just stolen some food.

Bubbles looked ready to intervene, he could see the burning rage in her eyes as she clenched her little fists.

"B don't-"

"What's going on here?"

The soldier snapped to attention, turning stiffly to face a squad of six soldiers entering their café. The one who had raised the question, supposedly the commander of the group, surveyed the scene, his eyes first landing on the woman, then Bubbles and Boomer, then his comrade.

"Stop fooling around and focus on the mission. Is that clear." The commander, though of a slighter built, made the taller soldier shrink slightly under his stern gaze, giving a sharp nod before sliding to the back of the group.

The commander strode up to them, his boots making a loud clicking sound which echoed in the small space, which made him seem scarier (to Boomer at least). He forced himself not to twist his apron into a knot, relaxing his posture and schooling his expression to one of calmness, though his insides were literally jumping all over the place.

On his badge, the letters "H", "I' and "M" were sewn in red. Memories of fighting against thousands of soldiers with the same badge rose unbidden to the front of his mind, and he shook his head trying to clear his thoughts as the soldier approached.

"Name."

"Ethan Smith and Alice Smith." No hesitation, no stuttering. Even a slight slip would end up in capture.

The soldier narrowed his eyes at them. Had he sounded too calm? Too fluent? Was Ethan Smith a way too common name? He knew he should have gone with Alexander Kuviachor.

He reached into his front pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper and straightening out the creases, and Boomer found himself staring into the bubble gum pink eyes of one Blossom Utonium.

"H've you seen her around here?"

He could feel rather than see Bubbles stiffening next to him, while her face scrunched up in confusion, cocking her head sideways as if she was studying the picture carefully, before shaking her head slowly. "No sir, I haven't seen anyone with such pinkish eyes around here." Boomer followed suit shaking his head quickly. (Was it too quick?)

He leaned back, shoving the picture back into his pocket before barking out a command and striding towards the entrance, leaving even more muddy footprints on the once clean floor. It was only when they had stepped out of the café did Boomer dare to let out the breath he had been holding.

A soft groan reminded them of the woman and they rushed over to her, comforting her and her children as Bubbles checked her injuries. From what he could see, there were a few bruises but he couldn't be sure if it was something more serious, not like they could do anything about it even if it was.

Many more minutes of soothing and sipping hot chocolate passed before Bubbles ushered them out the door, with food in their bags to last them a week at least if they were careful. Tensed silence filled the air as they fell into routine, closing up the shop and cleaning the last of the dishes.

Back then, before… That Night, Bubbles was always the one who broke the silence, her giggle always giving herself away when they played hide and seek as kids, or cheering everyone up when her sisters and his brothers were feeling tired and down. Now, however, she swept the crumbs off the table mindlessly, lost in thought.

He cleared his throat, "Bubbles?"

She stopped cleaning the tables, eyes flitting around nervously as she replied just as softly. "Please don't call me that."

"But we're alone-"

She spun around to face him, "Did you not just see what happened just now? They are searching for my sister, which means she- no _we_ are in danger! So just-"

She was now a mere few steps away from him, hands clutching the rag in front of her and tears glistening in her eyes, but they did not fall. Her body slumped suddenly, a sigh escaping her lips as the tension fell from her shoulders. "Sorry Boom, I didn't mean to do that. I'm just really…" she trailed off, looking out of the window now coated with a layer of frost.

"I don't know where they are Boom, and every day I fear that something happened to them, and I'm just sitting here and running a café like I'm-"

Then the tears began to fall down her face and he rushed to hold her as she cried, pressing her shaking shoulders into his chest as he fought the burning behind his eye lids.

"I'm sorry Bubs, I'm sorry."

He was sorry for a thousand things. He couldn't make the love of his life happy, he couldn't save his brothers, he couldn't save her sisters. How could he even save the world?

And for once Boomer wished he was really Ethan Smith, so that he could forget everything.

-0-0-0-

Fifty-eight. Fifty-nine. One thousand four hundred and thirty-six minutes. One. Two.

His finger tapped the ground silently as he counted. Four more minutes to go before the fun started.

He should probably wake her up soon, so that they could greet the guards with welcoming smiles when they came in. Maybe even prepare a cake and hang up some streamers while they were at it.

And a welcome back card saying they missed them, since yesterday was such a long time ago.

"BC-"

From the corner of their cell where she sat curled into a ball and face buried in her knees, she raised her middle finger.

Well, he tried.

Even Blossom wasn't this bad during her time of the month. Sure, she wasn't locked up in a cell (which was just a room with grey walls, ceiling and floor because grey was such a popular colour these days for interior decoration) and she had those… sticky cotton wool things that girls stuck to their underwear… or something. But come on, having blood flowing out of her didn't merit treating him like a pile of dog shit.

"You know, at least we're already covered with some blood… sooo it won't be that obvious."

"One more word Brick and I will stick a fork up your ass. Let's see how you enjoy having blood gush out of you."

He had better shut up.

Three minutes and twenty-seven seconds to go. He could feel his gut twisting inside of him as he anticipated what was to come. He wished he could say that he was numb to it and able to brave the pain, after seven months in this shit hole. He tried to put on a brave front at first, he had told himself that he was doing it for Buttercup, but in the end he realised it had been more for his own sake, to pretend like nothing could hurt him, nothing could break him. But pretending took too much effort, and the pain he received was still the same, so why bother?

Three minutes.

The most excitable inanimate object in his new home was the digital clock on the wall, with red numbers and a colon that indicated a second has passed with each blink. When he first arrived at this place, he had thought they would be thrown into some deep underground cell with barely any light and be chained to a wall or something, like those medieval movies. Then be sent to a torture chamber to be beaten with clubs and all those torture devices.

Instead, he got this. The room was painted with a dull coat of grey paint, yet it seemed too bright. The fluorescent lights above blazed down on him, constantly emitting a slightly irritating buzzing sound. There was a small partition in the corner of the room which served as a toilet. Correction – a bucket and a roll of toilet paper was the only thing that lay behind it.

"Whose turn is it this time?"

He looked up from his counting to face her, only to find that she was still in the same position.

"To be dissected?"

"Mmhm."

"I think it's mine."

"Or both of us."

"Maybe… depends on their mood."

She groaned, burying her head deeper into her knees.

Two minutes, forty-three seconds.

"Wanna bet their weapon of choice today?"

He shrugged, "Whatever."

She hummed in thought, rocking back and forth. "They used whips yesterday, and the day before they used the chair… I'm going with the scalpels."

"Nah, I think they'll go with the injections today."

She hissed, "Don't remind me. I bet a quarter of my porridge slop."

"Deal."

Two minutes. The door slammed open and two masked men strode into the cell, mean-looking tazers held lazily in their hands. Ooh they were early today. Goodie.

"Welcome to our humble abode gentlemen, what can we do for you today?"

To their credit, they ignored him and came straight for the both of them.

"Oi! Careful idiots! I'm having my damn cramps today!"

They were dragged out of their cell and onto the lonely corridor, throwing jabs and quips at the guards as they went. He was grinning from ear to ear like some kind of lunatic, laughing at some of Buttercup's insults and offering up a few of his own, but he would be lying if he said his heart wasn't pounding on his ribcage so hard that he felt it might break.

Buttercup snarled and cursed the guards with every foul word she knew, like she always did, and when he met her lime green eyes, he saw the same emotion he knew was reflecting in his own.

For all their jokes and dumb bets… he was scared.

No, he was terrified of this moment, every single damn day. For seven months.

They were dragged into the fifth room around the corner.

Four. Three. Two. One.

Brick closed his eyes.

He just wanted to go home.

* * *

 **a/n:** hi everyone, I would like to apologise for the extremely long wait for this chapter. I realised that I started this story during one of my most busiest times, and it was irresponsible of me. This means that this work would make extremely slow progress, and I apologise for that. I will squeeze in any time I have to write but just a heads up if you do not like waiting for long periods of time between chapters. One year is definitely a very long time to wait and I'm sorry about that.

On a more positive note, your reviews and follows and support of my sad and lonely first chapter makes me so happy and I really don't deserve you guys :')

To Ruffle: I hope that I will eventually answer all your questions (which means completing the story ahhh it's such a far away dream) and I'm glad that you enjoy the story :D Thanks for taking the time to review!

To Situ: Thanks for your suggestion! Yes I do plan to do just that, taking turns between each character and write from their point of view :) I hope you like it!

To Ash141: Thank you! It really makes my day when I see such an encouraging review, especially since I'm a first timer. i hope i was able to portray their emotions and whatever their going though (poor things... I'm going to do so much more to them)

To Carriedreamer: Ohmygosh senpai noticed me eek! I swear i nearly screamed in class when I saw your review :p Thank you for taking the time to read my story despite how busy you are :) Hmm that's an interesting question, hopefully I'll answer it soon! All the best in your writing! I absolutely adore your work so keep it up:D

To Ti: thank you for your encouragement and support! I'm glad that I got to know you and I couldn't have made it to chapter 2 without your encouragement :') so thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me, it means alot :D

And to anyone who stumbles across this, i hope you've enjoyed it so far and thank you for reading :D

Toodles!


End file.
